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March 10, 1964 s. s. PIKEN 3,123,350

SHOE HOLDER Filed Feb. 9, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 22 Fig.2 l8

Samuel 51 Pfiren 1N VENTOR.

March 10, 1964 Filed Feb. 9, 1961 S. S. PlKEN SHOE HOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Samuel .S. P/X'en INVENTOR.

BY WWW United States Patent 3,123,850 SHOE BUILDER aniuel S. Piheu, 5316 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IlL, assignor to Gertrude W. Pilreu, Chicago, Ill. Filed Feb. 1961, Ser. No. 88,135 2 Claims. (ill. 15-257) This invention relates to holding devices, and more particularly to devices for holding and supporting shoes.

Briefly, the invention comprises a shoe holding device including a support mounted to a vertical wall having a horizontally extending platform at its lower end and a clip at its upper end. A shoe is supported on the device by inserting the upper rear portion of the shoe between the clip and the support and then resting the heel of the shoe on the platform. The platform supports the weight of the shoe and the clip prevents the shoe from tilting or pivoting and thereby holds it in a horizontal position.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a device for holding a shoe in a substantially horizontal position on a vertical wall for storage, display, shining, etc.

Another object of the invention is to provide a holder for securing a shoe firmly in a novel way on a support to facilitate thorough cleaning or polishing thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe holder that is simple in design, light in weight, strong and durable, and easy and economical to manufacture.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe holder to which a shoe may be easily applied and which will hold a shoe for polishing without marring or scratching any vissible exterior portion of the shoe.

It is known that to restore properly a worn shoe to its original shape and polish, it is necessary to stretch the upper shoe leather to remove wrinkles which form on the top of the shoe after it has been worn by the wearer. To

effect this result, this invention will permit this stretching action of the upper surface of the shoe to take place during the polishing operation, and consequently will facilitate the removal of the Wrinkles in the shoe leather and thereby will enable the shoe shiner to restore the shoe to its original shape with a satisfactory polish.

It is, therefore, a further object of this invention to provide a shoe holder that will permit downward flexing of the toe portion of the shoe relative to the rear portion during polishing of the shoe so that it can be satisfactorily polished.

Still another object of the invention is to employ means for rigidly holding the rear portions including the heel portion of the shoe while the toe portion is being flexed, and to prevent any substantial sideways motion of the toe portion of the shoe during the polishing operation.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a shoe holder which will efiectively hold shoes of various sizes and designs, and even ladies high and low heel shoes of any and all sizes and heights without the need of any adjustments or changes in the original designs of the holder.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a holding device for shoes which will permit the shoe to be rotated substantially 180 on the holding device.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged front elevational view of the form shown in FIGURE 1 with the shoe removed;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially on the plane of line 3-3 in FIGURE 1;

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FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of a slightly modified form of the holder showing in dotted lines a shoe mounted thereon substantially parallel to a wall;

FIGURE 5 is an elevational cross sectional view taken substantially on the plane of line 55 in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a cross sectional view taken substantially on the plane of line 66 in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a third form of the holder;

FIGURE 8 is a cross sectional view taken substantially on the plane of line 88 in FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view of the form shown in FIGURE 5, but showing a ladys shoe supported thereon;

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view showing a fourth form of my invention;

FIGURE 11 is a cross sectional view taken substantially on the plane of line Iii-11 in FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 12 shows a perspective view of a fifth form of my invention;

FIGURE 13 is a perspective view showing a sixth form of my invention; and

FIGURE 14 is a cross sectional elevational view taken substantially on the plane of line ll4l4 in FIGURE 13.

Referring to FIGURES 1-3, it can be seen that a preferred form of the invention comprises a holder 10 for a shoe 12. The holder 10 is mounted on a wall surface 14 and includes a plate having a flat back 16 for securely contacting and confronting the flat wall 14. A plurality of countersunk holes 18, 2d are formed in the lower and upper ends of the central portion 22 of the plate. A pair of fiat headed screws 24 and 26 extend through the counter-sunk openings I8 and 20 and into the wall 14 for holding the support plate securely to the wall. Both vertical edges of the plate are concavely recessed at 28 and 3t? and are rounded off at 32 and 34. This reduces the thickness of the edges of the plate, makes them more smooth, and improves the appearance thereof, Integrally formed with the lower central portion 22 of the plate is a substantially horizontally extending platform or shelf 36. As shown in FIGURE 3, the front edge of the shelf is rounded off for smoothness, and the upper and lower surfaces thereof are slightly concave.

integrally formed with the upper central portion 22 is a clip member comprising a substantially vertically extending arm 33 secured to the plate by a connecting portion 49. The lower end of the arm 33 is flared outwardly and rounded off as shown at 42. The inner surface 46 of the arm 38 is preferably convex and curved to fit the curved inner surface 4-4 of the rear portion of the shoe 12.

To mount the shoe on the holder It the shoe is tilted upwardly at its toe end approximately 45 whereupon the upper rear portion of the shoe is inserted between the arm 3% and the plate portion 22 until the upper rear rim 4-9 of the shoe contacts the undersurface of the connecting portion 4d. Using the portion 46 as a pivot point, the shoe is then rotated counterclockwise as shown in FIGURE 3 until the heel of the shoe contacts the point 4 8 on the platform 36.

After the shoe is mounted as shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, conventional polishing material may then be applied thereto in the usual manner. For an improved application of the shoe polish or shining material, the toe of the shoe may be pressed downwardly while the polish is being applied. By pressing the toe downwardly, all the wrinkles are stretched out of the upper portion of the shoe thereby permitting the shoe polish or polishing material to reach all portions of the upper surface of the shoe, especially those portions which would normally constitute the valleys of wrinkles or crevices. The shoe is polished with a conventional brush or polishing cloth, and the pressure applied thereby during the polishing ope-ra- .3; tion also stretches the upper portion of the shoe and thereby assures that its entire surface is properly polished.

The modification shown in FIGURES 46 is quite similar to that form shown in FIGURES 1-3. However, in the second form, the arm is of slightly different shape than the arm 38. As shown in FIGURE 5, the arm 54 has its inner surface curved vertically from top to bottom with the radius of curvature gradually decreasing in a downward direction. As shown in FIGURE 6, the arm St; has its rear surface 52 also curved in a horizontal direction so as to fit the inner curved portion of a shoe. The front surface is concave and curved inwardly as shown at 54 in FIGURE 6. FIGURES 4 and 5 illustrate how the heel of the shoe 12 may be supported on the edge 48 of the shelf 36, and also how the shoe may be rotated from side-to-side on the supporting point so as to permit the shoe to be polished on both sides while it is held by the holder Iii. The curved surface 52 of the arm Stl also permits and aids in the rotation of the shoe.

In the modification shown in FIGURES 7 and 8, the arm 56 instead of being parallel to the support 22" inclines outwardly therefrom in a downward direction as shown in FIGURE 8. This permits easier insertion of the shoe between the arm and the support plate. The arm 56 has outwardly extending flange 58 and upwardly extending flange 6d integrally formed therewith.

The platform or shelf 64 has fiat upper and lower parallel surfaces and a downwardly extending flange 62 formed on its outer edge.

The support plates 22' and 22" as shown in FIGURES 4 and 7 have their center portions curved at their ends with a relatively large radius of curvature, and their side portions curved at their ends with a smaller radius of curvature. This prevents the corners of the plates from having sharp or abrupt edges and also provides an artistic appearance for the plate.

FIGURE 9 illustrates how the form shown in FIG- URES 4-6 may be used to support a ladys shoe. To support the ladys shoe as on the holder 16', the rear wall 66 of the shoe is pushed upwardly and wedged between the surface 52 of arm Stl and the outer surface of plate 22. This effectively holds the shoe by friction as shown in FIGURE 9, and when pressure is put on the upper toe portion of the shoe 68 it is more firmly held by the holder.

FIGURES and 11 show a form of holder made from stock material. A length of stock material having a fiat back 70 and a curved front 72 connected by straight parallel sides is used.

The middle portion of the holder or bracket is straight in the manner illustrated and comprises a vertical strip member constituting a support 74 (FIG. 10). The upper end portion of this member 74- is bent upon itself to define and provide a substantially semicircular part 76 the terminal or free end portion of which depends, is opposed to and spaced from the member 74 at the intermediate part thereof and is fashioned into a substantially S-shaped arm 78 at its free terminal end. The lower end portion of this vertical member '74 is also distinguishably bent upon itself to form two parallel spaced steps 30 and 82. connected to each other by an intervening bent portion or wall 84-. These cooperating bends or bent step portions define a stepped heel rest and fulcruming means in the manner brought out in phantom lines in FIG. 11.

The upper portion of the support 74- has a relatively large recessed aperture 88 directly adjacent to a smaller recessed aperture 99', both of the recesses being connected by a slot. The head of a screw 92 will pass through the aperture 88 but seats within the aperture 96 This permits the shoe holder to be lifted off and on the screw 92 Whenever desired. For attaching the holder permanently to the wall 96, a second screw 94 is inserted through an aperture in the lower portion of the support 7 4.

The two spaced parallel steps so and 82 permit the l. holder to effectively support shoes of varying sizes. Small and low shoes are supported on the shelf 89 as shown in FIGURE 11, while the shelf 32 may be used for supporting the heels of large or high top shoes.

The form shown in FIGURE 12 is similar to the form shown in FIGURES 10 and 11 in that it is formed from one strip of stock material. The material used is ordinary sheet material that is rectangular in cross section. The holder has a straight and flat vertically extending support section 1G2, an arm 166 parallel to the support and connected thereto by a connecting member Iii i. A platform lit) is bent from the lower end of support M2 and the outer end of the platform has a depending flange 112 bent downwardly therefrom. The lower end of the arm 1% has a flange 163 bent horizontally outwardly therefrom. The holes 114 and 116 provided for securing the support section 1102 to a wall are substantially identical to the holes as shown at 83, 9e and M in FIGURE 10. The flange I08 and 112 function as safety flanges in that they in effect increase the thickness of the ends of the members 106 and 119 and thereby reduce the sharpness thereof. The flange I68 prevents the lower end of arm 1% from scratching the interior of a shoe, and the flange I12 smooths off and prevents the platform Ill from having a sharp outer edge.

The form shown in FIGURES l3 and 14 is identical to the form shown in FIGURE 12, except that the platform 116 is hinged at 118 to the lower end of the support 1&2. As shown in FIGURE 14, this permits the platform to be folded upwardly when not in use and preventing the platform f ll) from functioning as an obstacle and occupying valuable space. The flange 119 on the inner end of platform Ill) erves as a stop and limits its downward movement to the horizontal position shown in FIGURE 14 in solid lines.

The holder may be made of a variety of materials and by a number of methods of manufacture. The materials may include any type of metal as cast metal such as aluminum, brass, cast iron, iron alloy. Satisfactory manufacturing methods include pressing, stamping, forging, casting and machining.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A holder for supporting a shoe in a generally horizontal inclined position to facilitate cleaning and polishmg of the same comprising: a one-piece device embodying a vertically elongated fiat-faced plate adapted to be superposed upon and secured to a stationary supporting wall, said plate being provided at a paint spaced above a lower end thereof with a horizontal right angularly projecting shelf rectangular in cross section and said shelf having a downturned free end, the juncture of the downturned end and body portion constituting a restricted supporting and fulcruming surface for the heel of the shoe, an attachmg and retaining arm having an upper laterally directed end integrally joined to an upper median portion of the plate and a depending portion directed toward and aligned with said shelf, the lower end of said arm bfilfi" spaced above the plane of said shelf a predetermined distance to facilitate ready handling and positioning of the shoe and also being directed forwardly and downwardly and having an upturned terminal portion providing an oblique angled tip to assist in piloting a shoe nto an in-use position and also in dislodging and removmg it from said in-use position.

2. A holder for a shoe comprising a vertical member adapted to be superimposed upon a stationary support wall and provided with means for mounting the same on said wall, the upper portion of said vertical member being semi-circular, the latter having a first lower portion terminating in a depending substantially S-shaped arm, said S-shaped arm being disposed in a position spaced from,

confronting and aligned with said upper portion of said 5 to serve as fulcruming rests for a shoe heel and being 10 selectively usable, said steps being aligned with and beneath the S-shaped arm.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Marin May 22, 1917 Dodd Feb. 20, 1923 Crawford Mar. 4, 1952 Schuster Dec. 18, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain of 1913 Germany Feb. 4, 1952 France Jan. 13, 1938 

1. A HOLDER FOR SUPPORTING A SHOE IN A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL INCLINED POSITION TO FACILITATE CLEANING AND POLISHING OF THE SAME COMPRISING: A ONE-PIECE DEVICE EMBODYING A VERTICALLY ELONGATED FLAT-FACED PLATE ADAPTED TO BE SUPERPOSED UPON AND SECURED TO A STATIONARY SUPPORTING WALL, SAID PLATE BEING PROVIDED AT A PAINT SPACED ABOVE A LOWER END THEREOF WITH A HORIZONTAL RIGHT ANGULARLY PROJECTING SHELF RECTANGULAR IN CROSS SECTION AND SAID SHELF HAVING A DOWNTURNED FREE END, THE JUNCTURE OF THE DOWNTURNED END AND BODY PORTION CONSTITUTING A RESTRICTED SUPPORTING AND FULCRUMING SURFACE FOR THE HEEL OF THE SHOE, AN ATTACHING AND RETAINING ARM HAVING AN UPPER LATERALLY DIRECTED END INTEGRALLY JOINED TO AN UPPER MEDIAN PORTION OF THE PLATE AND A DEPENDING PORTION DIRECTED TOWARD AND ALIGNED WITH SAID SHELF, THE LOWER END OF SAID ARM BEING SPACED ABOVE THE PLANE OF SAID SHELF A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE TO FACILITATE READY HANDLING AND POSITIONING OF THE SHOE AND ALSO BEING DIRECTED FORWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY AND HAVING AN UPTURNED TERMINAL PORTION PROVIDING AN OBLIQUE ANGLED TIP TO ASSIST IN PILOTING A SHOE INTO AN IN-USE POSITION AND ALSO IN DISLODGING AND REMOVING IT FROM SAID IN-USE POSITION. 